Implementing A Caregiver Mentor Program To Increase Caregiver Retention

Home Care Office Staff Hiring Tips

Caregivers should go through a formal training program focused on building confidence, satisfaction, and retention among both your caregivers and your clients. 

Congratulations again to all our excellent home care companies who won awards as 2018 Best of Home Care® Provider of Choice, Employer of Choice, and Leader in Excellence. I am impressed with how you care for both your clients and your caregivers. Also, big thanks to my outstanding team at Home Care Pulse who successfully support this prestigious award series. To view the award winners, click here.

For all our clients who are still working toward a Best of Home Care Award, I commend you. I know our quality management program is such a great tool to use in your home care business. Working toward the goal of an award can help boost your client satisfaction, referrals, and caregiver retention. Caregivers can be a help to your company in many ways when appropriately trained, maintained, and retained. Your success begins with the training you provide your caregivers. With a caregiver mentor program, not only will you strengthen your chances of winning an award in 2019, you will develop a team of knowledgeable caregivers who share your WHY – your purpose and mission.

In the 2017 Annual Home Care Benchmarking Study, only 72% of home care companies cited using a professionally produced training program. Caregivers should go through a formal training program focused on building confidence, satisfaction, and retention among both your caregivers and your clients. One of the greatest ways to accomplish this is by implementing a Caregiver Mentor Program, where new caregivers are assigned a caregiver mentor for the first 60-90 days of employment.

Related content: How to Create a Caregiver Mentor Program to Boost Caregiver Retention

7 Reasons Why You Should Commit to a Caregiver Mentoring Program

  • Decreases the HIGH turnover rate that occurs during the first 60-days of employment. – When a mentor program is in place a new hire is more likely to stay with your home care agency longer.

  • Boost caregiver confidence and satisfaction! – A caregiver who goes through the program will feel more confident and comfortable in their position. They’ll ask meaningful questions as they begin learning and sharing the WHY of the company.

  • Boost client confidence and satisfaction! – When clients know your caregivers are trained, it builds confidence and trust, as well as a positive rapport. Clients (and their families) want assurances the home care business they are receiving services from is properly training their caregivers.

  • Provides growth opportunities for your top caregivers. – Do they have exemplary leadership skills? Do their clients appreciate the work they do for them? Make sure to choose caregivers who are positive and portray the WHY of your company.

  • Produces highly trained and accountable caregivers. – Mentor leads should perform weekly calls or face-to-face coaching conversations with new caregivers. They should follow-up on how their training went and how the mentorship is going.

  • Creates a positive and team-centered culture. – Mentors, mentor leads, and others in management should provide continued encouragement and advice for improvement as the new hires are learning. Help them feel part of a team.

  • Great recruiting tool. – Let your future applicants know you have a mentor program. It assures them you provide opportunities to grow and learn in this new role. If promoted well, this could also be effective in attracting candidates who are motivated by positions offering a path for growth within a company.

How To Implement A Mentor Program That Works

To learn more about how to implement a Caregiver Mentor program, download our free tool below.

Caregiver Mentor Program Guidesheet

FREE RESOURCE

Retain and train more caregivers with a caregiver mentor program.

Get the Guidesheet

Best Practices of Best of Home Care Award-Winning Providers

Here are some suggestions we’ve compiled from observing agencies who succeed in caregiver training and retention to help you transform your caregiver mentor program.

  • When a new caregiver graduates from the program, congratulate them and provide a document or certificate recognizing their success. Remember, this is not only success to the recent graduate, but also to the Mentor and Mentor Lead who helped make the accomplishment possible.
  • For every new caregiver who continues after 90-days, give their Caregiver Mentor a sticker to place on a certificate of their own, signifying how many caregivers they’ve helped continue employment and remain engaged with your company.
  • Providing your mentors and mentor leads with formalized training on the program with an emphasis on leadership and professionalism is essential.

With the feedback we receive through our quality management program, we can help you measure how successful you are in training and mentoring your caregivers. To get started, give us a call at 877.307.8573 or request a free consultation. Our Business Development team will be more than happy to discuss how our program can help you increase job satisfaction and reduce caregiver turnover.

Good luck!

Aaron Marcum

Aaron Marcum
Founder & CEO
Home Care Pulse

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